


Friends, Enemies, Lovers

by IceBlueRose



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-05 00:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 3,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12179163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBlueRose/pseuds/IceBlueRose
Summary: A series of ficlets starting pre-series and ending a couple of months into or after season 2.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The third gift written for ladydisdain225 for vm_santa 2005 on LiveJournal.
> 
> I put this all as one post on LJ but I'm giving each ficlet its own chapter on here. I figured that'll make it a bit easier.

“Nothing will come of nothing.” – King Lear (Act I, Scene I)

 

Logan smiled as Veronica laughed at something Lilly had said. He glanced over to see Duncan watching Veronica with a smile as well and shook his head. These three had been his friends since he’d moved to Neptune two years ago. Since then he’d developed a bit of a crush on Veronica Mars even as he flirted constantly with Lilly.

Because he wasn’t allowed to have a crush on Veronica. Veronica was innocent with no idea how cruel the world could be despite the fact that her father was the sheriff. He knew exactly what the world held and it was all thanks to his parents.

The world was full of pain, drugs, liquor, and sex.

And if it hadn’t been for all that, maybe Logan would have made a move towards Veronica but there was something else holding him back and that was Duncan. 

Duncan was his best friend and he had a crush on Veronica that was so obvious he might as well write it across the sky. Which meant that Veronica was off-limits.

Nothing had happened between them. And as long as Duncan stared at Veronica as if she was the most beautiful girl in Neptune, nothing ever would.


	2. Chapter 2

“If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” – The Merchant of Venice (Act III, Scene I)

 

He was furious.

Logan couldn’t believe that Veronica had really just stood there and picked her father over them. He shook his head.

He’d thought that she’d cared about Lilly, about Duncan. About him. 

Clearly, she’d been nothing more than a social-climbing bitch who’d been using them all and was stabbing them in the back the first chance she got.

He ignored the fact that Veronica had sobbed in his arms for over an hour after Lilly’s funeral, ignored the memory of her shocked and tearful voice telling him that Lilly was dead. He ignored the way she’d looked at him just now, eyes red from another bout of crying.

He wouldn’t, he couldn’t, think of that now. Not when Lilly was gone and Keith Mars was destroying the Kanes with accusations. Not when he knew that one more accusation could cause Jake Kane to crumble and not when he knew that any more knowledge of these accusations would destroy that little bit of Duncan that still existed.

So now it didn’t matter that Veronica had been the one to tell him the news, that they’d held each other as they’d cried, held hands to offer some form of comfort during the funeral.

Veronica had betrayed them and Lilly. Now it was time to pay the price.


	3. Chapter 3

“I will speak daggers to her, but use none.” – Hamlet (Act III, Scene II)

 

Veronica looked as though she had been punched in the stomach. He never thought he’d see that look on her face. He certainly never thought that he’d be the cause. But it didn’t matter now. Logan had to tell himself this over and over during those first weeks. Eventually he started to believe it. But every now and then, there’d be this look in her eyes and Logan would have to remind himself of it again.

“What’s the matter? Did your mother’s pimp not give her enough money for you to buy lunch, _Ronnie?_ ” he asked, putting emphasis on the nickname he knew she hated. He remembered the first time he’d used it as a joke.

_“Hey, Ronnie.”_

_“Ronnie?” Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow. “What am I? A comic book character?”_

_Lilly laughed. “Veronica’s too sweet to be Ronnie. She’s more like Betty,” she said, referring to the nickname of Veronica Lodge. “After all, all Ronnie cares about is money, cars, and boys.”_

_“Well, Archie and Reggie more specifically,” Logan interrupted. Veronica snorted._

_“I don’t even want to know how you know that.”_

_Logan laughed, shaking his head. “Hey, I have a sister.”_

_“Does Trina even know how to read?”_

_“You never know. And comics do have pictures.”_

He used that name as a weapon now, though he used it sparingly. Use it too often and it would lose its effect. Because he knew Veronica remembered that conversation just as well as he did. And every time she heard the name she’d remember. And she’d know what he thought of her now.

She didn’t care about anything. She was no longer Veronica, the group’s Betty. She was Ronnie.


	4. Chapter 4

“These wounds are razors to my wounded heart.” – Titus Andronicus (Act I, Scene I)

 

Veronica remembered what it was like to be a part of that inner circle of friends that was now made up of Logan and Duncan. Because really, all the others did was follow what they did.

And what they did was make Veronica’s life hell. Duncan ignored her.

Logan wouldn’t allow her to be forgotten. He made it a point to say something to her every day. It had become so much a part of a routine that it was almost a comfort. She knew what to expect now.

Until he threw something new her way. And then she’d have to start all over.

He never brought Lilly into it. It was always an attack on her family, her lack of money, her looks.

Despite the fact that they were the same subjects, he managed to come up with something new every single time.

She didn’t know how to defend herself from the taunts, not yet. So she let him say what he wanted, let his words pierce her as if they were knives.

And late at night, when she remembered the friend he’d once been, she cried herself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” – King Henry IV, Part II (Act III, Scene II)

 

Taunting Veronica wasn’t the same. Or maybe the problem was that it was the same. She never said anything in reply, just looked at him with the eyes of a wounded puppy and the burn of humiliation.

He wasn’t going to stop. He knew if he stopped that others would too. And he couldn’t bring himself to do that just yet.

Instead, he almost wished things would change.

Logan looked around as Dick said something to Madison about spending time alone and snorted. It was all the same now. He knew if he interrupted, he could ask Madison to go to his place and she’d do it. Dick would get pissed and then in a couple of days, at the most, would want to go surfing.

He studied the other students, his attitude giving the impression that they were the peasants and he the ruler. He shook his head in disgust. There were no challenges, there was no thrill.

Pointless. All of it was pointless.


	6. Chapter 6

“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.” – Measure for Measure (Act II, Scene I)

 

“Rough weekend? Or did you deliberately take a weed whacker to your hair and then stick your finger in a socket?”

Veronica tensed at the sound of Logan’s voice coming from behind her. She’d spent the weekend cleaning every inch of herself and the apartment to get rid of the dirty feeling that now followed her everywhere she went. She’d chopped off her hair because the sight of it brought to mind that one of the guys at this school had possibly gripped it, ran his fingers through it as he’d taken the last piece of tangible evidence that she was innocent. She’d spent the weekend getting rid of the Veronica Mars that everyone else knew and prepared to introduce them to the new Veronica.

So she turned, a smile on her face, noting the curiosity that flickered through Logan’s eyes before it was hidden behind disdain. This was, after all, the most reaction he’d gotten out of her yet.

“Well, you know, I asked the stylist to give me something that would make it look like I was a member of the Echolls family and this was the result. And I can’t really complain now because I’m just so proud to have the same haircut you did a few years ago. It’s like we’re giving each other fashion advice.”

She watched in satisfaction as his eyebrows rose a bit in surprise, his mouth falling open slightly, before she pushed passed him, only pausing to turn and say one last thing.

“Oh and don’t forget to call me if you’re still interested in borrowing that pink sweater. You’re right, it’d be perfect for you.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” – Macbeth (Act I, Scene V)

 

Veronica knew how to get to Logan now. Now it was a battle of wills between the two. One that had, ironically enough, calmed after awhile once Veronica had started to fight back with more than just words.

Logan knew that there were people out there who would look at Veronica and see an innocent young girl. Blonde hair and big blue eyes. But he knew better. He’d fought with her, he’d seen what lengths she’d go to for revenge now.

Beneath the wide-eyed innocent look was a girl who knew what she wanted and how to get it. He’d seen her rip into Dick and walk away to leave him scratching his head in confusion, which wasn’t hard, or with a look on his face that meant she’d clearly hit a nerve.

The Veronica Mars he’d known was gone, buried beneath a hard shell, and he didn’t know if she was still alive. He almost didn’t care because this new Veronica Mars was someone he could go after with everything he had and feel the thrill again. With this Veronica, he didn’t have to hold back.

She may look innocent, but Logan was almost glad that she wasn’t.


	8. Chapter 8

“But love is blind, and lovers cannot see.” – The Merchant of Venice 

 

Neither of them knew what it was that they had between them. It had started when she’d picked up him and the others after Troy’s car had disappeared. It’d become even more obvious at Christmas when they’d been almost…friendly. Or, at the very least, much more civil than usual. And then after his mother’s car had been found on the bridge, after he’d gone to her for help, it had begun to change even more.

Business first, this was the most they’d ever called each other in over a year. But Logan had never taken Veronica off speed dial and he had a feeling that if he looked at Veronica’s phone, he’d still be on her speed dial as well.

It was the Camelot that had forever changed their relationship. One kiss and feelings they shouldn’t be having, feelings that Logan had long pushed aside, surfaced once more.

They tried to be discreet, though they no longer exchanged insults the way some people swapped bits of their lunch. (“I’ll trade you a cheating girlfriend for a slutty mother.”) Now there were secret smiles, conversations about nothing, and secret meetings in the girls’ bathroom.

They couldn’t see that what they thought was discreet was obvious to anyone who bothered to look. No one did though and they continued to lie to themselves and each other about the importance of it all.


	9. Chapter 9

“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” – Measure for Measure (Act I, Scene IV)

 

Veronica hadn’t thought that she could feel betrayed by Logan anymore. She’d been sure of it.

_“I just want you to trust me.”_

_“I do.”_

The memory caused a bittersweet taste to fill her mouth as she remembered what had followed. The cameras, finding out that Logan had lied about his alibi.

She shook her head. It didn’t matter that right now she felt empty, numb, something she hadn’t felt in quite awhile. She had done the right thing, she’d told her dad what she had found out and it was out of her hands.

But that didn’t mean her hands hadn’t been shaking as she’d hung up the phone with no intention of doing what Logan had asked during his one phone call. And it didn’t stop her from cursing herself for allowing herself to think that maybe things had changed, maybe he had changed. 

He hadn’t. And if he had, if she was right, then he hadn’t changed for the better. Her thoughts were interrupted by an angry, broken voice.

“So I guess this means we’re breaking up, huh?”


	10. Chapter 10

“Having nothing, nothing can he lose.” – King Henry the Sixth, Part III (Act III, Scene III)

 

Logan almost felt like laughing as he took another drink from his flask. It was ironic really, the way he’d been so sure that he could call Veronica for help and that, of all people, she’d be the first to give it.

But instead he’d had to listen as the sheriff had taken great pleasure of informing him that it had been Veronica who had turned him in.

Now Logan did laugh as he pulled the car to the side and stumbled out into the cool air that surrounded the bridge.

So much for that whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. He shook his head as he recalled her father’s words.

_“Stay away from her.”_

Well sure, that’d be no problem now that she was signing him up for community showers and years of praying he wouldn’t drop the soap.

He snorted as he climbed up on the ledge, briefly wondering if his mother had had trouble doing this in heels. He shrugged and looked down, pouring some of the liquor into the water below.

_There you go, Mom. Have a drink on me._

He looked around, noting that no one was around. He shrugged again as he began to walk along the ledge, almost dancing at times. It didn’t matter if he fell and it wouldn’t matter if he fell to the street or the ocean. He continued his walk/dance and then stopped to pour a bit more liquor out of the flask, balancing on one foot.

It didn’t matter because he had nothing left to lose.


	11. Chapter 11

“Of all the base passions, fear is the most accursed.” King Henry the Sixth, Part II (Act V, Scene II)

 

Logan knew fear. He’d felt it many times throughout his life. But at the moment, none of it compared to the fear that gripped him when he woke to find a bloody knife in his hand and the dead body of one of Weevil’s boys next to him. It didn’t compare to the fear, the disbelief that he’d felt when he’d heard the announcement over the radio that Aaron Echolls was in the hospital until he could be moved, having been charged with the murder of Lilly Kane and attempted murder of Keith and Veronica Mars.

He’d never be able to remember this night without remembering the fear. It had followed him throughout everything he’d done, from knocking on Veronica’s door to being taken to the police station.

Fear was one of the emotions he felt the most throughout his life and it was the emotion he hated the most. 

Fear was weakness and in his life, Logan couldn’t afford to be weak.


	12. Chapter 12

“For you and I are past our dancing days.” – Romeo & Juliet (Act I, Scene V)

 

Veronica didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to break up with Logan but she knew it was necessary. 

Logan seemed to be set to self-destruct and she’d be damned if she’d stand by and watch. Ever since he’d found out he wouldn’t be going to trial for Felix’s murder he seemed to have decided that the best way to pass the time would be to cause more problems between the 09ers and the PCH bikers.

The gasoline. She didn’t want to believe that Logan and his friend’s had actually decided it would be a good idea to set fire to the community pool but with that memory glaring her in the face how could she not?

She took a deep breath, taking a moment to remember all those moments during the summer when she’d thought everything would be okay, that they could just….be.

_“Hey, babe.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“The things some guys will say to get to second base.”_

But how could she trust that those moments were real when Logan’s attitude at other times practically screamed that he was doing anything and everything in his power to blow it all to hell.

The knocking on the door interrupted her thoughts and she took another deep breath as she stood and walked to the door, pulling it open to see him smiling down at her.

“Logan.”


	13. Chapter 13

“He will give the devil his due.” – King Henry IV, Part I (Act I, Scene II)

 

Logan had to give Duncan credit. After all, he waited a whole week after he and Veronica broke up to make his move.

Quite the difference from the whole year or so that Logan had waited. Insulting a girl may not be considered the normal way for passing the time between a guy and a girl who would eventually date, but looking back it seemed perfectly normal for Logan and Veronica.

Now though, Logan couldn’t help but wonder how easy it had been for her to just run straight back to Duncan. He couldn’t see it any other way. It’d been only a week since Keith had kicked him out of the apartment, only a week since Veronica had broken things off. 

And now she was seen going to the movies with Duncan, holding hands.

Logan really wished he had punched Beaver for mentioning it even if it had been only to warn Logan so he didn’t go into shock when he saw them.

Good old Duncan. The all-American guy that mothers everywhere loved and who’d been his best friend until the summer of avoidance—unless you counted showing up to stare at his girlfriend, which Logan didn’t.

Yeah. Duncan was the one guy he could count on. Sure.


	14. Chapter 14

“How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes.” – As You Like It (Act V, Scene II)

 

Logan wanted to hate them. He really did. But he couldn’t bring himself to fully do it. They were Veronica and Duncan and they’d been a part of his life in one way or another for the past five years.

Veronica and Duncan.

It was hard to even think of them like that and he hated hearing people say it. _Veronica and Duncan._ Almost as if it were one word. VeronicaandDuncan.

And while he could hate that, he couldn’t fully hate them. Because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Duncan smile like that (had it been Meg? Or had that been an act?) and he saw the way Veronica smiled (the way she had once smiled at him) and something inside of him wouldn’t allow him to hate them.

He pretended to hate them very well. But it was bitter anger that he felt instead whenever he saw them, heard them, heard about them. Because they were moving on while he felt like he was stuck in the past, reliving it all over and over again.

He couldn’t do it anymore though. It was time for him to move on as well. 

He wouldn’t let them be the only ones who did.


	15. Chapter 15

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” – Macbeth (Act II, Scene II)

 

Going to Veronica for help after having to sit in the same cell as his father wasn’t easy to do. But Logan couldn’t just sit back and let things happen. He refused.

His memory from that night is hazy at best. He remembers almost nothing after the first few punches. But he knows, somehow he knows, that he didn’t kill a man. He didn’t cut short the life of a young man practically the same age as he was.

He wasn’t his father and it was this thought that drove him to go to Veronica. And she was there this time to help him when he needed it.

The answers were there, out on the bridge, high above the ocean, just beyond his reach. Logan was determined to find them.


	16. Chapter 16

“The miserable have no other medicine but only hope.” – Measure for Measure (Act III, Scene I)

 

Veronica was looking at him in a way that he hadn’t seen since that summer. Maybe even before that. There’d been a spark of it two months ago when she’d told him to move from Neptune. Over the weeks, it had grown brighter each time they spent more and more time together.

It made Logan smile a bit that it was through trying to solve his case that that spark had started to come back.

His life wasn’t great. It was pretty much sinking when he thought about it. He’d dumped Kendall, which had been one of the brighter spots. But the tension between him and Duncan was steadily growing and once again, it was because of Veronica. The case itself wasn’t solved even though with everything he and Veronica had done, the police now had reason to believe that he wasn’t the one who had killed Felix. After his kidnapping and “questioning” by Weevil’s gang, he and Weevil had started working together as well. Between the three of them, Logan figured that the real murderer wouldn’t stand a chance.

But it was amazing what a sense of mistrust and fierce loyalty could cause people to hide.

It was being looked into was all they would tell him. And wasn’t that a wonderful thought to hold onto as he waited to see what the next roll of the dice would bring into his life?

Life was shitty.

But Veronica was looking at him in a way he thought he’d never see again. So maybe, just maybe, there was hope.


	17. Chapter 17

“Love sought is good, but giv’n unsought is better.” – Twelfth Night (Act III, Scene I)

 

He wasn’t sure what it was he’d been expecting when he opened the door earlier that night, but it hadn’t been a nervous Veronica Mars wanting to know if they could talk.

They’d spent hours talking, going over issues from last year, the summer, and the past few months. They’d gotten angry, they’d shouted at each other, stormed out of the room, and even cried a bit. 

But every minute of it had been worth it.

Logan couldn’t help but smirk as he thought that it was almost fitting that the second time he told her he loved her had been in the middle of an argument.

_“Damn it, I love you. I’m. In. Love. With. You. Get used to it.”_

Of all the things he’d been expecting as a reply to that, _“Yeah, well I’m in love with you too, you arrogant jackass,”_ hadn’t been one of them.

Not that he was complaining. He slowly stroked her back, glancing down to find her looking up at him. He raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“What do we do now, Logan? Where do we go from here?”

He paused, thinking it over before he smiled a bit and shrugged. “I have no idea,” he said simply. She smiled and nodded, accepting this and he had a feeling that it was because she didn’t have any ideas either.

And that was okay. They didn't need to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Story originally posted: December 24, 2005
> 
> \- I'm moving all my VM fic from LiveJournal to here and since I've decided not to rewrite or edit any of them, I'll be including when the fic was originally posted.


End file.
